Improvement in sewing-machines



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ROBINSON.

Sewing Machine.

No. 7,824. Patente d Dem 10, 1850.

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No. 7,824. Patentd Dec. 10,. 1850.

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Patented Dec 10, 1850.

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UNITED STATES FREDERICK R. ROBINSON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

, Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 7,824, dated December10, 1810.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK B. BoBIN- SON, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulSewing-Machine; and I do hereby declare that the same is fully describedand represented in the following specification and accompanyingdrawings, letters, figures, and references thereof.

Of the said drawings, Figure 1 denotes a top view of my sewing-machine;Fig. 2, a

side elevation of it; Fig. 3, a front elevation of it. Fig. 4 is avertical section of the two thread-guides, the pressers, the,supportingplate, and the rotary cloth-holder. Such other figures as maybe necessary to a full and complete description of the invention, willbe hereinafter referred to and described.

The object of my invention is to produce either what is generally termecstitch and back stitch sewing, or ordinary stitching. By ordinary stitchand back stitch sewing I mean that in which a thread, after beingcarried through a piece of cloth from its front to its rear side, ismoved backward the width of the stitch, is next again carried throughfrom the rear side to the front side of the cloth, is next carriedforward laterally double the width of the stitch, or some other suitabledistance greater than the width of the stitch, and is next passedthrough the cloth from its front side to its rear side, such operationbeing successively repeated in the formation of the stitches. Byordinary stitching I mean that in which a thread is passed through thecloth from its front side to its rear side, is next moved forward thewidth of the stitch, is carried backward through the cloth from its rearside to its front side, is next carried forward the width of the stitch,and is again passed through the cloth from its front side to its rearside, and so on. This is frequently called the running or bastingstitch.

Although the elements which constitutethe combination of my machine maybe adapted to the production of either of the above kinds of sewing, andthis by slight changes in the mechanical cont'rivances by which themotions Y are produced and regulated, they may also be adapted,by properchanges, to the production of the ordinary cordwainers stitch, which isproduced by two threads which cross one another every time they arepassed through the cloth. It is to be understood, however, that themovements of such elements, in order to produce the cordwainers stitch,must be effected and regulated by suitable mechanical contrivanceapplied to them, the application of such mechanical contrivances, aswell as their selection or adoption, being the work of the mechanic whoconstructs the machine, and not, generally speaking, one of invention.

In Figs. 1 and 2, A represents a circular baseplate, table, or stand, onwhich the operative parts of the machinery are supported by means ofthree or any other suitable number of col umns, B O D, raised verticallythereon. E is the driving-shaft,which carries a fly-Whee1,F.

It has an eccentric, G, on one end and a cam, H, on its other, the saidshaft being put in motion by means of power applied to a crank, I, or inany other suitable manner. The ec centric operates, in connection withthe surrounding band K and its connecting-rod L, to give a reciprocatingor pendulous motion to the needle-frame M, which is arranged as seen inthe drawings, and is supported upon a horizontal shaft, N, that projectsfrom the column or pillar D, as seen in the drawings. The saidneedle-frame is composed of two bars, a b, united together at theirupper ends, and connected together at about one-third their entirelength below their place of connection by a circular curved bar or arc,O. The lower end of each of the legs a b of such frame carries a curvedneedle, R or S, such needle being made to extend from the inner side ofthe leg, as seen in the drawings. Each needle is constructed asrepresented in side view in Fig. 5 on an enlarged scale-that is to say,it is provided with along eye, 6, which has a spring, f, fixed to oneend of it and forming a part of the needle, as seen in said Fig. 5. Eachneedle during the movements of the needle-frame passes through a slot,1', made through the flange k, which is erected vertically upon thebase-plate, and which serves to support a cir cular hoop,P,which Idenominate the clothholder, and whichI shall hereinafter moreparticularly describe. The slot or passaget' may be about a half an inchin its horizontal length, or it may be of a greater or less length, ascircumstances may require. Its Width ver= tically should be sufficientto receive each needle and allow it to freely play through Q or U, whichis formed in its vertical section as seen in Fig. 4. In its horizontallength the flaring mouthpiece should be about that of the'slot. Thatmouth-piece which is on the rear or inner side of the flange whichsupports the cloth-holder is fastened to the base-plate, whereas the oneon the outer side of the flange projects from an arm, 9, which extendsdown from a frame, h, screwed to the post D by means of a screw, k. Thefront mouth-piece is made through apart of a projection, V, which isarranged in front of the flange and clothholder, and is intended toprevent the cloth from being drawn off the points x w m of thecloth-holder during the operations of the outer needle, S, as well asthose of the inner needle, It.

Fig. 6 represents a front View, and Fig. 7 an end view, of theprojection V, the same being drawn on an enlarged scale. In such figuresit will be seen that the said projection is provided with a passageway,r, of a sufficient depth to receive the points of the clothholder and topermit the free horizontal rotation of the whole series of them, ortheir horizontal passage through the said contrivance. The arm g ishinged at its upper end to the frame h, and in such manner as to enableit to be freely moved cit-her toward or away from the cloth-holder, itsdistance from the clothholder being regulated by an adj Listing-screw,

2), which is screwed horizontally through the lower end of an arm, 1),which extends downward from the frame h, and so as to bring theadjusting-screw directly in front of the arm 9. Each mouth-piece shouldbe so made as to cause the spring of the needle when it passes throughthe mouthpiece to 'close entirely downward. The thread-guides, which areseen at W and X, are two bent bars of metal, arranged in the positionsas seen in Figs. 2 and 3. Both of these bars are adapted to the frame itin such manner as to be capable of being freely and separately moved,not only upward and downward, but in lateral directions in planes whichmay be said to be at right angles to the plane of movement of theneedle-frame.

Fig. 8 represents a front side view of the outer thread-guide, X, as itappears when detach'ed from the rest of the machinery. Each of the saidthread-guides is provided with a slot, y, through which a fulcrum-pin,Z, passes, the position of said pin being seen in Figs. 2 and 3. Each ofthe said thread-guides has one end of a retracting-spring, a, attachedto it, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the other or upper end of the saidretracting-spring being fastened to the frame h, such spring being soarranged and made to operate as to lift the thread-guide upward whennecessary. The upper arm or part of one of the thread-guides is arrangedon one side of the curved are 0, while the upper arm or part of theother thread-guide is disposed on the opposite side of the said are,

both thread-guides being connected at their upper ends by helical springI), which draws said ends toward one another. The lower end of eachthread-guide is forked, the prongs or sides 0 d of such fork beingsprings, and made, respectively, to contain two vertical frictionrollers, ef. (See Figs. 9 and 10, respectively vertical and horizontalsections of the lower end of the thread-guide, and exhibiting thethread-plates g h, which are fastened to one of the springs, d, andproject by the other, 0'.) Each of, the said thread-plates has a hole,13, made through it for the passage of the needle, which passes throughthe plates and between the vertical friction-rollers. As soon as eitherneedle enters the cloth that thread-guide through which said needle doesnot pass or extend should have a lateral motion imparted to it farenough to carry it out of the way of the point of the needle. Suchlateral motion is given to it by means of one of two earns, 70 or If,arranged upon the side of the are 0, as seen in Figs. 11,12, and 13,Fig. 11 being a top view of said are, and Figs. 12 and 13 being,respectively, views of its opposite sides. The lateral movementaforesaid of the threadguide being completed, the said thread-guideshould immediately have a slight downward movement imparted to it, whichmovement is efi'ected by a cam, Z or 1*, arranged upon the are, as seenin Figs. 11, 12, and 13, the cams k k Z Z being made to work againstsuitable shoulders or bearings-faces formed upon the upper arms of thethread-guides.

Fig. 14 represents an under side view of the are 0, while Fig. 15 is across-section of it, showing the formation of the upper arms of thethread-guides and their application to the are 0. On each side of theare there is a smallcam, m or m, arranged as seen in Figs. 12, 13, and 11, the lower side of the are be,- tween these two cams being a circularare, such as will produce no vertical motion of either thread-guidewhile it is moving in con tact with it.

To each cam on or m is applied a continuation, 0 o, of the circular areor portion between the said cams m or W, this continuation operating toproduce no vertical movement of one threadguide during such time as theother thread-guide is depressed a short distance by the cam mf or W,which is immediately annexed to it. Vve will now suppose one of thethread-guides moved downward into itslowest position, or that in whichit should be to allow the passage of its needle through it. As soon asthe needle commences to enter the threadguides the cam m or m connectedwith the arm of the other thread-guide moves by such arm so as to allowthe retractive spring of the thread-guide to which said arm belongs toelevate the thread-guide so as to carry the thread which extends throughsaid threadguide above the path of the needle, so that when thethreadguide is next moved laterally the needle may as-2a 3 cloth. Next,such lateral movement of the thread-guide takes place sufficient tocarry said portion of the thread laterally across and over the path ofthe needle. This having been accomplished by the action of one of thecams which produced the lateral movements, as afore described, next thethread-guide is depressed a short distance by one of the cams Z Z and soas to fairly lay the thread upon the needle and behind the rear end ofthe spring f thereof, and so as to cause the thread on the retraction orreturnmovement of the needleto bedrawn under the spring and into the eyeof the needle and through the cloth by the needle.

By inspection of the drawings, it will be seen that during each backmovement of the needle through the cloth the spring of the needle isclosed down by one of the mouth-pieces or pressers immediately beforethe said spring is drawn back through the cloth. The mouthpiece orpresser becomes necessary when the needle is formed with a spring; butwhen said needle is made as represented on an enlarged scale in Figs. 16and 17, the former being atop view of the needle, and the latter a sideview of it, such mouth -piece or presser is not essential totheoperation of such needle. The needle, as exhibited in the two last-namedfigures, is formed with a round or elongated eye extending through it,which eye has adiagonal passage-way made into it, as seen in top view inFig. 16.

In sewing with this machine we do not make use of a continuous threadunwound from a bobbin, as do those machines which producea chain-stitch;but we make use of a short piece of threadsuch .as a person uses whensewing by hand with an ordinary sewingneedle-and on commencing to sew wesimply pass one end of the thread between a spring, 1-, and the arm 9,against which said spring bears, and we extend the thread and lay itover the back needle after it has passed through the cloth, and in suchmanner as to enable the needle to receive the thread into its eye whenthe needle is drawn back. The said needle during its retraction willdraw the thread through the cloth and the back thread-guide and continueto draw upon the thread until that end of the thread which was not heldby the spring, as before 'mentioned, has been drawn entirely through thecloth and the inner thread-guide. The front needle in the meantime hasadvanced and passed through the outer thread-guide and entirely throughthe cloth and to the extent of its motion inward. During suchadvancement a lateral movement of the inner thread-guide toward theright causes the thread to be laid over the said needle. The needlesnext are moved forward, and during such movement been laid or left overit, ready for the next back movement of the needle.

The circular motion of the elotlrholder is to be regularly intermittent,each movement .of it being a sufficient distance to produce the lengthof each stitch as required to be made in the cloth. In order to producethe stitch and back stitch or forward and back stitch sewing, the twoneedles must not be arranged in the same vertical plane; but they shouldbe arranged, respectively, in two vertical parallel planes, situated, orsupposed to be, at a distance apart from one another equal to the lengthof a stitch, the outer needle being placed on the right of the other.The cloth-holder is to be moved forward only during each outwardmovement of the needle-frame, and such motion should take place whilethe needles are out of the thread-guides or cloth.

The machinery which produces the intermittent circular motion to themetallic hoop or cloth-holder is as follows: The upper surface of thecloth-holder has a series of ratchetteeth formed entirely around it. Oneor more pawls or ratchets, s, joined to the lower end of a lever, t,works into said ratchet-teeth. The said lever 25 moves upon a fulcrum atu, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, and is moved in one direction by the actionof the cam H, and in an opposite direction by a retractive spring, 1),affixed to it, and to a stationary arm, w, arranged as seen in thedrawings.

In the adaptation of my machine to the production of ordinarystitching-that is to say, stitching without a back stitchthe two needlesmust be arranged in the same plane with each other, while a forwardmovement of the clotlrholder should take place during each movement ofthe two needles either outward or inward. The cloth-holder has a seriesof points projecting from its outer surface and close to its lower edgeand at suitable distances apart from one another. The cloth to be sewedis placed upon these points, as represented at A by dotted lines. Thefriction-rollers of the lower ends of the threadguide are sprung together by the springs so as to firmly hold the thread when passedbetween them. Each threadguide has a stop-screw, x or y, applied to it,as seen in Fig. 3, the two stop-screws be ing screwed, respectively,through projections Z a, the whole being arranged in such man ner as toenable the screws to serve as restsor stops for their respectivethread-guides to bear against under the draft of the connectingspring atthe upper ends of the thread-guides.

Although I have described my invention under certain forms andarrahgements of its different parts, as exhibited in the drawings,

yet I donot intend to confine it always thereto, as I mean to make useof any others which may be adopted to advantage, while I do notessentially change the principle or character.

I claim as new 1. The combination of two needles, two

thread-guides, and a cloth-holder made to op In testimony whereof I havehereto set my signature this 15th day of October, 1850.

FREDERICK R. ROBINSO N.

\Nitnesses:'

R. H. EDDY, FRANCIS GOULD.

